Real Estate Blog

This holiday season finds Charlotte Area streets and stores humming with as much activity as has been seen for some time—which brings us to an unusually upbeat year’s end. Whether it’s Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa that’s spelled out in overhead banners, this is the one time of year when a particular spiritual meaning supersedes the commercial activity that marks all the big holidays.

The hustle and bustle leading up to this week may have kept many of us busy collecting gifts and preparing for the gatherings we reinvent annually, but it’s nearly impossible not to also call to mind some of the indescribable wonders from childhood days.

That feeling must have been in mind when, nearly a century ago, then-President Calvin Coolidge opened his holiday season message to the American people with,

“Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind.”

“Silent Cal” nailed it in just those few words; he was famous for that! Today, we call it a mindset—and that’s probably why this time of year it’s permissible to share such high-minded thoughts.

Author Oren Arnold might have said it best when he offered this list of Christmas gift suggestions to counter to the season’s increasingly materialistic leanings:

“To your enemy, forgiveness.

To an opponent, tolerance.

To a friend, your heart.

To a customer, service.

To all, charity.

To every child, a good example.

To yourself, respect.”

~ Oren Arnold

In this spirit, we wish you all the beauty, all the blessings—and especially all the joy the season can bring!

David Harkins is NC Real Estate Broker and REALTOR®. Before working in Real Estate, he had a fulfilling career in business consulting and marketing, advising both large and small companies including several in the Fortune 500 and many of America’s largest nonprofit organizations. In his spare time, he consults, speaks, writes, hikes, explores, and creates art. Although, not necessarily in that order.